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Footballguys Staff 6-man DRAFT mock - Week 5

An evaluation of a 6-man mock FantasyDraft for Week 5. Each participant answers questions about their strategy and picks.

by Jeff Haseley, October 5Photo: Charles LeClaire, US Presswire

Six Footballguys staff completed a 6-man Week 5 mock draft using the DRAFT scoring format below. Each particpant must fill a roster with exactly these five positions: QB-RB-RB-WR/TE-WR/TE using a serpentine draft style.

THE PARTICIPANTS FOR THE WEEK 5 DRAFT:

DRAFT RESULTS

DRAFT EVALUATION

Devin knotts - SLOT 1

Overview - Devin drafted a solid team with strength at nearly every pick. His Dallas stack of Dak Prescott and Dez Bryant vs. the Packers may wind up being his best two (back to back) picks of the draft. Plus he also has Jordy Nelson, in the same game. Vegas odds have the Green Bay vs. Dallas game at 52.5 points. If that rings true, it will be difficult to overcome Devin's point total this week. LeVeon Bell as the top overall pick should pay big dividends at home against Jacksonville. I'm not sold on Melvin Gordon this week, due to his knee troubles and he appears to have taken a step back from his performance in Weeks 1 and 2, especially as a receiving back (only 1 catch in the last two games, while netting 12 in the first two).

devin ANSWERS QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS DRAFT

1. What was your draft strategy with this week's slate of games and how did it turn out for you?My strategy this week was relatively easy with the first pick overall. Basically start with Le’Veon Bell and let the draft come to me. Once the turn came, I was hoping that one of the running backs that I liked came back to me which it ended up working great as Melvin Gordon came back to me. Dak and Dez are a stack that I love this week and knew I wanted to target late, so getting them in the 4th and 5th round was tremendous value.

2. Which player on your roster do you think will make or break you? Melvin Gordon is the player that will make or break my roster this week. I am basically banking on him to have a bounce back week after a relatively slow start to the season. The biggest concern is that he has not been receiving the ball as much as he did in weeks 1 and 2 as he has only caught one pass over the last two weeks.

3. Which player do you believe you received the best value?Le’Veon Bell at 1.01 is the best value this week as he is my clear-cut number one overall player this week. Bell is in his own tier for me as it appears that he is starting to round into regular season form as we saw last week with his 35 carries and four receptions. This Jaguars defense has struggled against the run recently while being one of the best teams in the NFL against the pass.

4. Who is the team to beat this week? I think that I am the overwhelming favorite this week, but the only team that I am genuinely worried about is Dan’s team as anytime you have Russell Wilson and Doug Baldwin in a good matchup that can lead to multiple touchdowns. It will take one of these stacks to go off to beat me which is why it’s always a good idea in the 6 man leagues to stack QB/WR.

dan hindery - SLOT 2

Overview: Dan has his own stack working to his advantage with Russell Wilson and Doug Baldwin on the road at Los Angeles (Rams). The game projects to reach 47 points and two scores to Baldwin would go a long way towards Dan finishing on top this week. Ezekiel Elliott is capable of a big game any given week and this week's game could go back and forth with plenty of opportunities to score. Jordan Howard has a tough matchup against Minnesota this week. The Vikings have allowed the 2nd fewest fantasy points in this format to running backs this year, trailing only Denver in that department. A.J. Green's matchup against Buffalo isn't great, but the volume he'll receive may be enough to get the point total up for Dan's squad. This is a good team with the potential to win, that likely will hinge on Seattle's ability to rack up passing stats.

dan ANSWERS QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS DRAFT

1. What was your draft strategy with this week's slate of games and how did it turn out for you?I feel like it’s a big advantage landing a top-3 pick this week. LeVeon Bell, Ezekiel Elliott and Todd Gurley have been getting a crazy amount of touches and are each home favorites with decent matchups. Drafting at 1.02, it was a no-brainer to grab one of these guys and I went with Elliott narrowly over Gurley because I think the Green Bay defense is weaker than the Seattle defense. In the 2nd and 3rd rounds, I knew I wanted to grab a solid RB2 and one of the top wide receivers. A.J. Green and Jordy Nelson are my top two receivers this week and both were on the board at 2.05. The news that Davante Adams will probably play dents Nelson’s projected targets just enough for me to prefer Green. The Buffalo pass defense has good numbers on paper but aside from one quarter of Julio Jones, hasn’t faced a receiver anywhere near Green’s caliber. The matchup for Cincinnati may be more favorable than most think. The Bills want to take away the deep ball and force teams to put together long drives with completions underneath. Due to a poor offensive line, the Bengals have already been successfully using a quick-release, dink-and-dunk passing game over the past two weeks.

Late in the draft, I was hoping to land either the Dak Prescott-Dez Bryant stack or the Russell Wilson-Doug Baldwin stack. All four of these players were still available at 4.05. I like Wilson more than Prescott this week and with Elliott already rostered, it felt like adding two more Cowboys would limit my team’s upside a bit, which was also a factor in leaning toward Wilson-Baldwin.

2. Which player on your roster do you think will make or break you? Russell Wilson will be the key. He has been a high-variance fantasy player in recent years. He has had some extremely disappointing performances but also has had many 25+ point fantasy outings as well. He has been streaky and has a good chance to continue his hot streak against the Rams.

3. Which player do you believe you received the best value?The draft tracked my personal rankings for the week pretty closely, so there weren’t any huge values out there to be had. However, I do think Russell Wilson at 4.05 was very solid value. There is more of a fall off than at quarterback this week than previous weeks. Drew Brees and Matt Ryan are on byes. Tom Brady and Jameis Winston play Thursday and aren’t on the main slate. With so many top quarterbacks missing from the player pool, the few remaining elite quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson have more value than normal. Wilson has been great the last two weeks and looks like he is heating up. The Los Angeles Rams are leading the league in points scored. Wilson is likely to have to play aggressively in a game that could be higher-scoring than many expect.

4. Who is the team to beat this week? I like the way my team turned out and also like what Devin was able to do. LeVeon Bell tops my rankings and was a good pick at 1.01. Jordy Nelson is my second-favorite wide receiver and 2.06 is good value on him. As mentioned above, the Dak Prescott-Dez Bryant pairing is one of my favorites this week.

alex miglio - SLOT 3

Overview - Alex decided to ride the wave of fantasy success by pitting two Dolphins against the Tennessee pass defense, which is second worst in the league behind only New England. If Jay Cutler can find some magic with DeVante Parker, this team will have a chance. On the flip side, Miami is averaing 8 points per game this season and they are coming off what should be two consecutive shutouts, if not for a last second garbage time touchdown in Week 3. He actually has three Dolphins this week, with Jay Ajayi penciled in as his RB2 behind Todd Gurley. Alex's chances are completely hinged on Miami's ability to find some offense. Todd Gurley and Odell Beckham Jr are excellent complementary players to Alex's Miami trifecta. So goes Miami. So goes this team.

alex ANSWERS QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS DRAFT

1. What was your draft strategy with this week's slate of games and how did it turn out for you?Well, obviously I think the Dolphins get off the schnide this week. It's been a harrowing few weeks for Miami, but they are back home against one of the most generous defenses in the league right now. Granted, I didn't go into the draft with a plan to just stack the offense, but it all fell into place as the draft wore on.

2. Which player on your roster do you think will make or break you? Jay Cutler. If he tanks, the offense tanks, and my entire plan will have backfired. If he can take advantage of the Titans defense like Russell Wilson and DeShaun Watson have over the past couple of weeks, though, I expect the fantasy points to flow. That includes for Jay Ajayi, who will find a ton of running room if the passing offense is in rhythm.

3. Which player do you believe you received the best value?Odell Beckham is dinged up, and he's coming off a disappointing outing, but how was he still available in the third round going up against a Chargers defense that has given up six touchdowns to receivers this year?

4. Who is the team to beat this week? Devin has a solid team all around, one with a high floor and huge ceiling. Dak-to-Dez will be a thing this weekend, and Bell and Nelson will have big scores. Gordon is the pick I like least among Devin's, but he is still going to be a nice volume play.

sean settle - SLOT 4

Overview - Kareem Hunt, Antonio Brown, Christian McCaffrey, T.Y. Hilton and Cam Newton. Every player on this team is capable of producing big, especially Hunt and Brown. The matchups for Hunt (at Houston) and the Panthers (Cam Newton, Christian McCaffrey at Detroit) aren't great this week, which is why I am showing some pause with this lineup. A huge game from Antonio Brown against Jacksonville is definitely possible and it would go a long way to giving Sean some hope for a win. I wonder if Ben Roethlisberger would've been a better quarterback option than Newton, simply because of the matchup? It's difficult to argue with Kareem Hunt, who has already amased over 500 yards rushing in four games. Houston is ranked third best against running backs this season in this format. If Hunt can produce yet again on the road against this tough run defense, he's worthy of all the accolades coming to him.

sean ANSWERS QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS DRAFT

1. What was your draft strategy with this week's slate of games and how did it turn out for you?This week’s slate of games comes with a very weak core of running backs and I wanted to address that need early. Kareem Hunt has been outstanding this year and shows no signs of slowing down. After that my goal was to stack WR and QB but I lost my number one duo when Devin drafted Jordy Nelson. At that point it became best available when my initial strategy went out the window. Adding Antonio Brown in the second round was a gift and from there I stacked McCaffrey and Newton in the hopes of several check down throws again this week.

2. Which player on your roster do you think will make or break you?Christian McCaffrey is going to be the biggest wild card this week. The rushing aspect is not where his value comes from but rather the volume of check down throws and screens from Cam Newton. If McCaffrey can get at least 5 targets he will be worth the pick and any rushing yards would become more of a bonus. Game script should allow McCaffrey to be used early and often against Detroit.

3. Which player do you believe you received the best value?Antonio Brown in the second round comes with the best value. Despite his tirade last week about Roethlisberger not throwing him the ball, he is still the best wide receiver in the league. Brown is normally a first round pick that just happened to fall in my lap when other players took different strategies.

4. Who is the team to beat this week? Right now, it looks like Devin and Dan will be the two teams to beat this week. Both teams took strong running backs and stacked elite quarterbacks with their top wide receiving options. I give Devin the slight edge with the Dak to Dez combo at home this week against a weak Green Bay defense but it will be close all the way to the end.

james brimacombe - SLOT 5

Overview - I like James as a darkhorse to win this week. Leonard Fournette would be the talk of the rookie running back class if not for Kareem Hunt. He quietly has scored in every game so far this season, two of which were completely against a game script for rushing success. LeSean McCoy is capable of scoring any given week and can give James the boost he needs to keep the points coming for this team. DeAndre Hopkins is the only player in the league with at least six receptions in each game this year. Teams will have to defend Will Fuller now as well, which benefits Hopkins. James doubled-down with DeShaun Watson as his quarterback. The Chiefs have allowed only four passing touchdowns, but Watson's ability to run will give his fantasy totals a spike. Keenan Allen as a WR2 for this lineup is a wild card. The Giants have allowed only two touchdowns to wide receivers this season, but if Allen can creep up to 6 or 7 receptions, it may be enough to give James the points he needs. This team has a chance to produce good, solid points at all positions with the possibility of one or two making a push for Top 10 numbers.

james ANSWERS QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS DRAFT

1. What was your draft strategy with this week's slate of games and how did it turn out for you?My goal going in was to grab a top running back with my first pick but I ended up getting the 1.05 pick and had the likes of LeVeon Bell, Ezekiel Elliott, Todd Gurley, and Kareem Hunt go right before me. I would have been thrilled to get any one of those players but instead, I went with LeSean McCoy. As much as I love McCoy, the spot versus the Bengals is not ideal as they are the 6th best team at defending the position, not allowing a 100-yard rusher and only giving up 2 touchdowns on the ground so far. On the plus side, McCoy continues to see a lot of touches in this offense and will have to be counted on even more in the passing game with Jordan Matthews now sidelined.

2. Which player on your roster do you think will make or break you? DeShaun Watson would be my make or break candidate, as he just had his big 5 touchdown breakout game, but he is still a rookie and will be playing on the big stage against the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs have only given up 4 passing touchdowns on the season with two to Kirk Cousins and two to Carson Wentz while they blanked both Tom Brady and Philip Rivers. The fact that I paired Watson with DeAndre Hopkins means my team will be centered around how well Watson performs in this tougher matchup.

3. Which player do you believe you received the best value?I feel Leonard Fournette was my best pick in the 2nd round as 6 running backs went off the board in 7 picks before him. Pittsburgh’s defense has been good so far this season but their run defense has been exploited by Jordan Howard in Week 3 as the Bears gave a good blue print on how to beat the Steelers with Howard rushing 23 times for 138 yards and a pair of touchdowns while adding 5 catches for 26 additional yards. Fournette is averaging over 20 rushing attempts, 4 receptions, and a touchdown a game, so I expect him to see 20-25 touches and reach the end zone in this particular game.

4. Who is the team to beat this week? The team to beat is hands down Devin’s. LeVeon Bell, Jordy Nelson, Melvin Gordon, Dez Bryant, and Dak Prescott in that order, hard to draft a better team than that. DRAFT is a funny game as you never know what draft spot you are going to get each time you sign up for a draft, so when you get the top pick in a week where LeVeon Bell is in a great matchup, you really just got lucky. Add that luck, with the fact that his next four picks were perfect, hard to not like his chances here. The Dez Bryant and Dak Prescott stack at the end of his draft was just the perfect scenario and ending. Well done, Devin!

keith roberts - SLOT 6

Overview - Keith picked sixth and was forced to pick after a string of five straight running back selections. He elected to go with Carlos Hyde against Indianapolis and Aaron Rodgers at Dallas. That's not a bad sequence, but I would've gone with Leonard Fournette and followed him up with Antonio Brown. Hindsight is 20-20 though, and I really like his pick of Bilal Powell as his RB2 in round five, the last pick of the draft. Maybe Rodgers will have a 3-4 touchdown game, which will make that pick worthwhile. That's Keith's hope and it's not a bad strategy. Stefon Diggs is one of the best receivers in the game right now and Jarvis Landry is capable of high volume results against a very favorable matchup in Tennessee. Sometimes all it takes is a big game from one player and consistent production from the rest of your lineup. Keith has assembled a team that is more than capable of doing that.

keith ANSWERS QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS DRAFT

1. What was your draft strategy with this week's slate of games and how did it turn out for you?I came in thinking there would likely be a run on running backs early due to the drop-off, and boy was that right—all first-round picks were running backs, so I had to grab one with one of my two picks on the turn. I like Hyde a lot this week going against a Colts defense that has allowed at least one rushing touchdown in three of four games this season, even while facing three relatively weak backfields over their last three games. Picking on the turn always presents interesting trade-off decisions, and that was no different this week. Because of the running backs flying off the board, I had a choice between taking the top receiver or top quarterback here. I chose to take Aaron Rodgers, as there is a pretty sharp drop off in the floor of other options this week with guys like Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Matt Ryan all off the slate. There were plenty of values out there at wide receiver, so I had no problem waiting to fill that position until later while using my last pick on running back.

2. Which player on your roster do you think will make or break you?Aaron Rodgers is where my money will be made this week. Rodgers is in a great spot against a weak Cowboys secondary that has allowed multiple passing touchdowns in each of their last three games. I took a risk to choose Rodgers over the likes of Jordy Nelson or Antonio Brown, so it will have to pay off for my team to be successful this week.

3. Which player do you believe you received the best value?I am very happy with my pick of Jarvis Landry in the fourth round. While the Dolphins offense has been nothing short of awful this season, Landry and his fellow receivers have one of the best matchups in the league this week going against a Titans defense that was just shredded against the Texans last week. Among teams on this slate, the Titans are allowing the most fantasy points per week to opposing wide receivers. Landry leads the Dolphins in targets with 33, and he is an excellent option in PPR scoring formats like DRAFT. Jay Cutler will be under pressure from a strong Titans defensive line, so I expect him to look for a quick target such as Landry. The Titans cornerbacks have proven to be very beatable this season, and while Logan Ryan is one of their stronger options covering slot guys, Landry’s opportunity from volume is what I was going after with this pick.

4. Who is the team to beat this week? Devin’s team is undoubtedly the team to beat this week. He gained a huge advantage by having the #1 pick followed by a big run on running backs. Jordy Nelson was my top receiver of the week, so I was surprised to see him taken third off the board. Melvin Gordon is a boom or bust play, as he has looked horrible but has the volume upside for what could be a big week. The stack of Dak Prescott and Dez Bryant with Devin’s last two picks was huge, as that game has the highest total of the week and looks to be a shootout in the making as both secondaries have played poorly this season. That stack alone will definitely make or break his team, but if they even connect for one touchdown, that will be a nice complement to the already strong picks Devin is working with on this team.